Shane Ross (Independent)

I am sure the Senator's grandmother had plenty of money. Otherwise she would not have treated any bank with such courage. That is the only moral one can draw from that story.

I endorse what everyone has said this morning. To me, what has happened regarding the banks and the ECB cut is simply theft. It is subterfuge, but it is theft. There is only one purpose to ECB cuts. Whether the cut is half a point or a point, it results from the appalling state of the European economy. The rate is cut because the European economy is sluggish. It is an effort to put more money in people's pockets in order to get the economies moving. That is all. It is a very simple, unsophisticated exercise, done through the banks.

Under the present system, the banks are not meant to pocket any of this money. It is understood that they will pass it on. They are taking advantage of the situation, which is, as the Taoiseach rightly said, immoral. I applaud the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, for bringing these people to heel.